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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

The Rafael Nadal will fly to Chile on Thursday to return to tennis after seven months of absence is "other" Nadal: has a new racket that could soon be almost science fiction, a new approach to business and opens unknowns unpublished in As for his game. Will he return to what it was? The question is asked by everyone, even those responsible for antidoping program of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) gives relatively equal: that Spanish was enough confirmed his return to the circuit so that, according to sources with direct access to the players, we made four controls in two weeks. In total there were more, "six or seven", he told dpa ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti . But the hours and days of Nadal since recovered from his double knee injury in late November came to wield a racket, passed on the other hand, went through precisely adapt to their new weapon of work: Babolat Aeropro Drive . Like most players, Nadal is conservative, does not like to change what works. But that's what the coaches. "The uncle Toni Rafa pressed him to change. If you want to be better, you have to risk, "he told dpa Eric Babolat, owner of the company that makes the racket with which Nadal since age 12. "I disagree with what you say, but I'll try," added Nadal Babolat often tell his uncle-coach. According to French, the new bike and new strings give "more power and control" to shock the Spanish. "More top spin, and he already has much but wants more," Babolat, admitting that it is "a nightmare for opponents," usually overwhelmed by the height they reach Spanish shots thanks to the effect of "top". By year's end the racket could be besides science fiction, because the plan is to introduce a "chip" that will "collect all the data about every shot." "It could become a habit, commonplace after sports: sit with your friends to compare the technical data of each," enthuses French.

New agency representation

And while Nadal fits your racket face to the Viña del Mar tournament, Sao Paulo and Acapulco, businesses gain a new dimension. Carlos Costa, former "top ten" and for years manager Nadal, left representation agency IMG, the largest in its field, to create a family partnership with Sebastián Nadal, Rafael's father. The movement is the same for months now faced Roger Federer and Tony Godsick, his manager. Godsick left IMG and now runs alongside Federer all businesses of former world number one. There are no commissions to pay and nothing to discuss: the control is entirely in your hands. The same will happen now with Nadal.

Rafa and doubts about his game

With the racket and businesses aimed defined, the big question through the tennis champion seven times Roland Garros. Will he return after 26 years with the force and the results of his best moments? There are great figures who express doubts. "I think I probably need time to be Nadal, especially for the other players think of him as the old Nadal. The other players lose a lot of respect for the level" of a player after a pause so long, said the Swede Mats Wilander to dpa in Australia. Three-time Roland Garros, former world number one TV analyst sharp, Wilander is blunt: "Although it is called Rafa Nadal, this year is an 'outsider' in Paris." "It's the year of Andy (Murray) and Novak (Djokovic) to win Roland Garros, and (Roger) Federer also, obviously, although I won," said the Swede. Australian Pat Cash thinks the same. With them match the American Andre Agassi , another former number one, who believes Nadal will return to its usual level tennis until 2014. "I discovered that whatever time you're outside of tennis, you need double that time to get back on the same level you were when you stopped playing, that's my experience," Agassi said in a recent interview with the Australian newspaper "The Age" in which he referred to his own experience: deep down in the ranking and "resurrection" back. Wilander believes: time until Nadal will again be Nadal: "If he wins Roland Garros this year I do not know what I would do, admit I was completely wrong ... I can not imagine." Djokovic thinks differently: "Rafa is always the favorite in this area, clearly the player to beat"